Whether you joined us at our first Innovation Convening or not earlier this month, we hope you'll enjoy just some of our highlights from the two-day program bringing together nearly 100 people in innovation and collaboration, for the the future of the movement. Read more:

Love, sex, family and community

“I loved the incorporation of the themes love, sex, family and community into the entire design. It seemed seamless weaving the ideas into our lives and work.”
​–liz, evaluations and learning coordinator

"What gets me up in the morning is my love for all of you, the desire that we all get the #LoveSexFamilyCommunity that we want" - Sujatha

​Making art

“At my table, none of us knew each other and we all felt very private about what we were putting in to our heart pillows, but as we began to talk about it we saw connections and similarities that allowed us to open up more and start to build relationships.”
​– Sarah, deputy director

​(Re)united, and it feels so good

“I appreciated how the fellows embraced non-fellows. It lent to the sense of community that we are fostering and to see it spring into action was very gratifying for me personally. I know that it some meaningful relationships were established and it showed. There was some ‘leaning into discomfort’ and lots of generosity shown during the convening.”
​–Jennifer, field organizer
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​Participants, some of whom had just met each other, forming design teams…

“I loved seeing how people pushed through the challenge of forming teams. Especially on the second day, I saw a lot of people pushing past discomfort of different ideas to move with a ton of creativity, fun and a bias towards action!”
​– Chandra, director of design and learning
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A photo posted by CoreAlign (@corealign) on May 12, 2016 at 3:21pm PDT

​…working together...

“I loved seeing the team I coached work through an abbreviated design cycle and really lean on each other and struggle with some discomfort with a commitment to making sure everyone got to the end of the process together and ensuring that everyone played a role in the process.”
–Rachel, field organizer

​Lauren Zuniga’s poetry

Poet and Generative Fellowship alum Lauren Zuniga shared four poems with us, one for each part of our love, sex, family and community theme. Field manager Sandra said afterward, “I need a shirt that says ‘Lauren Zuniga made me cry,’” echoing the impact Lauren’s words had throughout the room. See some of her poetry here.
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​Ending each day with a dance party

A video posted by CoreAlign (@corealign) on May 12, 2016 at 5:30pm PDT

Getting this conversation out of the room and into the movement

Nearly 50 of you tweeted and Instagrammed along with us, reaching a social media network of 65,000 people! (Not to mention all the Facebook posts privacy settings keep us from measuring.) We hope you’ll share this blog post, too, to keep talking about innovation and the future of the movement.